The last game played in Group 1 was much anticipated, a first ever clash between the two German teams. West Germany was already assured of progression to the second round whatever the result.

This result forced a realignment of the West German team that would later help them win the Cup. Coincidentally, the two second-round groups both produced matches that were, in effect, semi-finals.

In Group A, the Netherlands and Brazil met after each had taken maximum points from their previous two matches. In Group B, the same happened with West Germany and Poland — so the winners of these two games would contest the final.

At the same time, Brazil defeated East Germany 1—0. However the match would also be remembered for harsh defending on both sides.

The crucial game between the Germans and the Poles was goalless until the 76th minute, when Gerd Muller scored to send the hosts through 1—0.

The Poles took third place after defeating Brazil 1—0. The final was held on 7 July at Olympiastadion, Munich. West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer , while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruyff , and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition.

Paul Breitner spontaneously decided to kick, and scored. These two penalties were the first in a World Cup final.

France have also held both trophies, albeit in a different order, at the same time by winning the World Cup followed by Euro This was only the second time that a team had won the World Cup after losing a match in the Finals West Germany losing to East Germany during the group stage.

The others are the , , and tournaments. Then the remaining spots in the groups were determined by dividing the participants into pots based on geographical sections.

When the final draw was held, the sixteenth and final qualifier was not yet known; it would be either Yugoslavia or Spain. These teams finished with an identical record in their qualification group and following this situation, rules were changed so that tied teams had to compete in a play-off game on neutral ground.

It was also decided that South American nations cannot play in same group during the first group stage. In other words, Argentina and Chile will not be allocated in a group seeded by Brazil or Uruguay.

Other nations were draw one by one, pot by pot. The great sensation of the draw was the meeting of the two "German teams" in Group 1. In the days following the event, a rumour began circulating that the GDR would consider a World Cup withdrawal due to a meeting with the team of the Federal Republic.

However, this was quickly and officially denied by the Government of East Germany. The first round, or group stage, saw the sixteen teams divided into four groups of four teams.

Each group was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group.

Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams finishing first and second in each group qualified for the second round, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament.

The second round, or second group stage, saw the eight teams progressing from the first round divided into two groups of four teams on the basis of the tournament regulations.

Group A would consist of the winners of Groups 1 and 3, plus the runners-up from Groups 2 and 4. Group B would consist of the other four teams, namely the winners of Groups 2 and 4, plus the runners-up from Group 1 and 3.

Like the first group stage, each group in the second round was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group.

The two teams finishing first in each group advanced to the final, while the two runners-up would meet to decide third place. If the teams remained tied in the final after extra time, a replay would be held.

At all previous World Cup tournaments, the drawing of lots had been foreseen in this situation to split the teams.

With seven goals, Grzegorz Lato was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 97 goals were scored by 53 players, with three of them credited as own goals.

In , FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including , based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Countries qualified for World Cup. Country failed to qualify. Countries that did not enter World Cup.